Association of Online PublishersHelping media owners build better digital business
17 Aug 2009
2008 saw iGIZMO grow from a pre-launch idea to being the world’s first and only interactive gadget magazine. As with any advertising funded product, iGIZMO needed to acquire large readership quickly in order to establish the brand in the minds of potential advertisers while delivering the required page impressions and click-throughs from issue 1. It set itself ambitious commercial targets, including 100,000 unique users per issue within 4 months.
Pete Wootton, Managing Director at Dennis Interactive, says:
“We designed iGIZMO to deliver the most compelling package possible for readers in an interactive magazine format. Compelling video clips, flash animations and links attract attention and gain customer engagement and loyalty. It’s been a great success for us and the number of new subscribers we’ve attracted shows we’ve hit a winning formula.”
iGIZMO Magazine produced by Dennis with Ceros technologyThe first issue of iGIZMO was sent to selections from the Dennis database as a one-off sample copy to introduce the format to the target audience. The message was that this was the only time the contact would receive the publication unless they subscribed via the sample copy. Content was tweaked to highlight relevant parts of the publication. Therefore, for motoring contacts on the database, the latest concept cars were promoted; for the lifestyle sector, MP3 players and phones were the focus.
Alongside this, Google PPC campaigns were run pushing potential subscribers to a micro-site. An extensive on site banner campaign was used across Dennis’ network of sites to drive additional subscribers.
iGIZMO - the world’s first interactive gadget magazine
The world’s most advanced interactive magazine publishing platform
Ceros is the most advanced digital publication platform in the world. Ceros clients use rich media to create high impact digital publications that encourage engagement and drive revenue. Our clients are publishers and marketers operating in all the major industries across the world.
>> As a publishing platform: With over 1 million opens of Ceros magazines every week, readership in every one of the 192 countries on Earth and major
brands creating advertising content specially for the format, Ceros is the de-facto standard for interactive online magazine publishing. The top publishers use Ceros including BBC, Haymarket, Bauer, Dennis and RBI.
>> As a marketing vehicle: readers of Ceros digital publications interact with your content, your brand and take action. Rich media functionality supports data collection and personalization, API integration with web sites allows real time content updates all tracked with the most comprehensive reporting suite available. Marketing campaigns using Ceros digital publications far exceed campaign expectations and are being used by direct marketers in companies including Sears, Thomas Cook, Virgin, Tesco and Ford. For more information, please visit www.ceros.com. 
How to successfully launch an interactive magazine…the iGIZMO way
Background
Back in March 2008, despite the deepening economic crisis, Dennis Publishing boldly decided to launch iGIZMO – A brand new interactive magazine in a burgeoning gadget segment. The format was the same as with its sister brand, Monkey, which uses the Ceros page-turning digital publishing platform.2008 saw iGIZMO grow from a pre-launch idea to being the world’s first and only interactive gadget magazine. As with any advertising funded product, iGIZMO needed to acquire large readership quickly in order to establish the brand in the minds of potential advertisers while delivering the required page impressions and click-throughs from issue 1. It set itself ambitious commercial targets, including 100,000 unique users per issue within 4 months.
Pete Wootton, Managing Director at Dennis Interactive, says:
“We designed iGIZMO to deliver the most compelling package possible for readers in an interactive magazine format. Compelling video clips, flash animations and links attract attention and gain customer engagement and loyalty. It’s been a great success for us and the number of new subscribers we’ve attracted shows we’ve hit a winning formula.”
Targeting
The quickest and cheapest method of acquiring a large audience was to make use of Dennis’ existing online readership. Research of the Dennis database revealed that relatively few of iGIZMO’s target audience were currently subscribing to Monkey Magazine, which is delivered on the same unique Ceros platform as iGIZMO. A new audience from existing digital magazine readers was needed.iGIZMO Magazine produced by Dennis with Ceros technologyThe first issue of iGIZMO was sent to selections from the Dennis database as a one-off sample copy to introduce the format to the target audience. The message was that this was the only time the contact would receive the publication unless they subscribed via the sample copy. Content was tweaked to highlight relevant parts of the publication. Therefore, for motoring contacts on the database, the latest concept cars were promoted; for the lifestyle sector, MP3 players and phones were the focus. Alongside this, Google PPC campaigns were run pushing potential subscribers to a micro-site. An extensive on site banner campaign was used across Dennis’ network of sites to drive additional subscribers.
Success
- Since its launch in March 2008 iGIZMO has been as overwhelming success. It has achieved an ABCe audited figure of 187,016 unique readers in July 08, an average of 101,785 unique people every issue
- The subscription base has continued to expand since issue 1 and in just 15 issues, has grown by over 100%. This is helped by a subscription micro-site which has a 50% conversion rate
- The click-through rates from the iGIZMO email alerts are consistently impressive. This is achieved through attracting a large number of quality subscribers using a well received content and technology platform. 15 issues (and 30 email newsletters) after launch, the iGIZMO newsletter list continues to deliver a click-though rate of over 40% – significantly higher than any industry average
- The format has been well received by advertisers – iGIZMO is forecasted to finish 15% up on its year end budget. Campaigns have been rebooked with a number of big name clients including Toshiba, Panasonic, Sony Playstation, Microsoft, o2, 20th Century Fox, Toyota and PC World
- Clients report an average click-through rate of anywhere between 2 and 5%, showing that the database is highly responsive and the publishing medium is ideal for advertisers
iGIZMO - the world’s first interactive gadget magazineAbout Ceros
Ceros: Publish – Interact – EngageThe world’s most advanced interactive magazine publishing platform
Ceros is the most advanced digital publication platform in the world. Ceros clients use rich media to create high impact digital publications that encourage engagement and drive revenue. Our clients are publishers and marketers operating in all the major industries across the world.
>> As a publishing platform: With over 1 million opens of Ceros magazines every week, readership in every one of the 192 countries on Earth and major
brands creating advertising content specially for the format, Ceros is the de-facto standard for interactive online magazine publishing. The top publishers use Ceros including BBC, Haymarket, Bauer, Dennis and RBI.
>> As a marketing vehicle: readers of Ceros digital publications interact with your content, your brand and take action. Rich media functionality supports data collection and personalization, API integration with web sites allows real time content updates all tracked with the most comprehensive reporting suite available. Marketing campaigns using Ceros digital publications far exceed campaign expectations and are being used by direct marketers in companies including Sears, Thomas Cook, Virgin, Tesco and Ford. For more information, please visit www.ceros.com.
